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7 dead in drive-by shooting

Image provided by KEYT-TV, shows the scene of a mass shooting near the campus of the University of Santa Barbara in Isla Vista, Calif., Friday, May 23, 2014. (AP Photo/KEYT, John Palminteri)

Updated 6:57 - A California gunman who went on a rampage stabbed three people to death at his apartment before shooting to death three more elsewhere, sheriff's officials said Saturday.

The three people in the apartment were among the six left dead Friday night during the shootings near the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Elliot Rodger, 22, the gunman, apparently killed himself, authorities said.

Sheriff Bill Brown called it a "chaotic, rapidly unfolding convoluted incident" that involved multiple crime scenes. Seven people remained hospitalized with serious injuries.

The rampage mirrored threats made on a YouTube video posted Friday night, authorities said. They were analyzing the video in which Rodger sits in a car and looks at the camera, laughing often, and says he is going to take his revenge against humanity.

The young man describes loneliness and frustration because "girls have never been attracted to me," and says he is still a virgin. The video, which is almost seven minutes long, appears scripted.

"You deserve to be annihilated — and I'll give that to you," Rodger said. "You never showed me any mercy and so I will show you none. You forced me to suffer all my life and now I'll make you all suffer. I've waited a long time for this."

Earlier Saturday, Alan Shifman — a lawyer who represents Peter Rodger, one of the assistant directors on "The Hunger Games" — issued a statement saying his client believed his son, Elliot Rodger, was the shooter. It was unclear how the son would have obtained a gun. The family is "staunchly against guns" and supports gun-control laws, Shifman added.

Updated 1:47 p.m.

The family of a man they believe went on a shooting rampage near a Santa Barbara, California, university called police several weeks ago after being alarmed by YouTube videos "regarding suicide and the killing of people," a lawyer said Saturday.

Police interviewed Elliot Rodger and found him to be a "perfectly polite, kind and wonderful human," family attorney Alan Shifman said.

Shifman added that police did not find a history of guns, but did say Rodger "didn't have a lot of friends," had trouble making friends and didn't have any girlfriends.

Shifman is the attorney for Peter Rodger, who was one of the assistant directors on "The Hunger Games" film series. Authorities have not confirmed the identity of the shooter.

Police said a gunman driving a BMW near the university campus went on a rampage that left seven people dead, including the shooter. Authorities described the tragedy as "obviously the work of a mad man."

Seven people remain hospitalized with gunshot wounds or other injuries, including one who has undergone surgery, following the shooting spree Friday night in the beachside community of Isla Vista, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.

The gunman got into two gun battles before crashing his black BMW into a parked car. Deputies found the lone suspect dead with a gunshot wound to the head, but it wasn't immediately clear whether he was killed by gunfire or if he committed suicide, Brown said.

7:31 a.m. A drive-by shooter went on a rampage near a Santa Barbara university campus that left seven people dead, including the attacker, and seven others wounded, authorities said Saturday.

The gunman got into two gun battles with deputies during Friday night's rampage in the beachside community of Isla Vista before crashing his black BMW into a parked car, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said.

Deputies found him dead with a gunshot wound to the head, but it wasn't immediately clear whether he was killed by gunfire or if he committed suicide, he said.

A semi-automatic handgun was recovered from the scene near the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Investigators know the gunman's name, but Brown said he couldn't release it pending notification of relatives.

"We're analyzing both written and videotaped evidence that suggests that this atrocity was a premeditated mass murder," Brown said.

The rampage broke out around 9:30 p.m. in the student enclave reputed for parties, including an annual spring bash that turned into a violent blowout last month. Brown said the shootings occurred at several sites, resulting in nine crime scenes.

A student told KEYT-TV he saw shots fired from a BMW, fatally striking one woman and critically injuring another woman.

A visibly shaken student told the station she was approached by the driver of a black BMW who flashed a handgun and asked "Hey, what's up?" The student, who didn't provide her full name, said she thought he was carrying an airsoft gun and kept walking. She said seconds later, she felt something buzz by her head and quickly realized they were bullets.

The victims' identities were not immediately released. Brown said the injured were being treated for gunshot wounds and traumatic injuries, including at least one person who underwent surgery for life-threatening injuries.

Isla Vista, a roughly half-square mile community next to UC Santa Barbara's campus and picturesque beachside cliffs, is home to 23,000 people. The area has a reputation for excessive partying. Last month, an annual spring bash spiraled into violence as young people clashed with police and tossed rocks and bottles. A university police officer and four deputies were injured and 130 people were arrested.

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